I'm hosting the first ever Read the Nobels 2016 Reading Challenge. You can join in any time of the year and all it takes is to read one book written by a Nobel Prize for Literature laureate. You can sign up HERE. This is part of a bigger, perpetual challenge. If you'd like to get more Nobel Prize winning literature in your TBRs in your lifetime, check out the Read the Nobels blog.
Every few weeks, I feature a book and/or a Nobel Prize for Literature Laureate. Here's our third featured book, twice reviewed on the Read the Nobels blog:
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Nobel Prize in Literature 1970 (Russian)...
"for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature" (nobelprize.org).
Synopsis of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: This brutal, shattering glimpse of the fate of millions of Russians under Stalin shook Russia and shocked the world when it first appeared. Discover the importance of a piece of bread or an extra bowl of soup, the incredible luxury of a book, the ingenious possibilities of a nail, a piece of string or a single match in a world where survival is all. Here safety, warmth and food are the first objectives. Reading it, you enter a world of incarceration, brutality, hard manual labour and freezing cold - and participate in the struggle of men to survive both the terrible rigours of nature and the inhumanity of the system that defines their conditions of life.
Review snippets from Read the Nobels
Don't forget to check out the links for full reviews:
In my opinion One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn counts among the best classics of world literature although it neither is the first nor the last fiction work revolving around the horrors lived in forced labour camps of a despotic system. - Edith, Edith's Miscellany
I liked this novel. I think it's hard to pinpoint what's particularly unique or special, but it is a straightforward and well told story. There seems to be such wonderful simplicity in the prose that gets across the character and the experience of camp life so well. - Aquatique
Find out more about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Autobiography on the Nobel Prize website
- Wikipedia
- Website: www.solzhenitsyn.ru/ (in Russian)
Other books by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:
- An Incident at Krechetovka Station (novella).
- Matryona's Place (novella).
- For the Good of the Cause (novella).
- The First Circle (novel)
- Cancer Ward (novel)
Author photo: By Verhoeff, Bert / Anefo - [1] Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989, Nummer toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer 927-0019, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29177274
You are AMAZING! I was going to compile a list like this but you've already done it! Now I have to save it so I know what I'm doing this year!
ReplyDeleteTANYA! I was having such a hard time figuring out what was coming up next that I started this ... and me being so compulsive, look at it .... it's become even more monstrous that I imagined! :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are doing this: The Novel Challenge page used to be awesome. but it got moved to weebly, which is really bad. I asked a couple of times, apparently they can't add a search button, and if you do a special google search with site:, it won't even work, because weebly blocks the web crawlers! Awful for a blog of that type! And the tags are not too good, for instance the tag audiobook does not even exist, and there are audiobooks challenges going on.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my French Bingo has a 2016 version - the link you have is for 2015: http://wordsandpeace.com/2015/12/16/french-bingo-2016-reading-challenge/
Emma, when I saw A Novel Challenge, I actually thought of just stopping this list. But I find having my own list has been useful for my use -- and I'm glad that you're finding it useful too!.
ReplyDeleteI;ve changed the link - thanks so much for pointing it out!